Knowing China through Taiwan

Society

Sichuan driver hits cyclist, ditches him on the way to hospital

A driver in Chengdu dodged responsibility for a car accident by "hiding in plain sight," reports the Sichuan-based West China City Daily.

Zhang, a 58-year-old man riding his bike in the capital of southwest China's Sichuan province, was hit by a car at 9pm on Nov. 11. The man driving the car quickly got out the vehicle and found Zhang with blood pouring from his head. Instead of running or calling an ambulance, he picked up Zhang and carried him inside his vehicle, telling bystanders that he was going to take him to the hospital.

Zhang told him the way to the nearest hospital, but the driver instead drove 12km out of the way towards "another hospital." They never made it to the unidentified hospital.

"I was dizzy and too weak to talk to him," said Zhang, who recalls the driver pulling off the road to a deserted lot and asking Zhang to get out of the car. When Zhang refused, he was forcefully dragged out and tossed into bushes on the side of the road.

Twenty minutes later, Zhang woke up. The car was gone. He called his son, who eventually found him and took him to the hospital for treatment.

The police said the driver's act could be viewed as a hit-and-run and have begun an investigation.